Steam Deck Won’t Turn On? Here Are 12 Ways to Fix!

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Valve’s Steam Deck is one of the best devices for enjoying PC-level games with portability. Apart from just using Steam OS, you can also install any OS that you like and enjoy its games. But, it could be annoying if one fine day you decided to fire up your Steam Deck, only to notice that it is not turning on. Now, you don’t have to panic as there are a good number of troubleshooting methods that you can follow. Read through this guide and get back with a properly working Steam Deck.

Now, many of the fixes are simple and easy, well, of course, unless you have to reinstall SteamOS. But if you have to reinstall the OS, we have also listed the steps for you. Let’s get started.

There could be many reasons as to why your Steam Deck might not turn on. It could be something to do either with your battery, hardware, or maybe even your software. We have listed the troubleshooting steps below for you to try to get your Steam Deck back to work.

Steam Deck Not Working – The Symptoms

If your Steam Deck is not working, it could be showing one or more of the symptoms.

  • Steam Deck won’t turn on after installing an update
  • Steam Deck won’t turn on but a blinking white light appears
  • Steam Deck beeps but won’t power up.
  • Steam Deck won’t power up unless plugged in.
  • Spinning fans, but Steam Deck won’t switch on.

How to Fix Steam Deck Not Turning On

Now, if you have a Steam Deck that won’t switch on but does the things listed above, then this guide is for you. Let’s dig into basic troubleshooting to advanced troubleshooting steps.

Force Power Up The Steam Deck

If you have left your Steam Deck completely drained out for an extended period, the console will refuse to power up right away. In that case, you have to plug in the power for the Steam Deck and then try to switch it on. However, the methods are a bit different for the LCD model and the OLED model.

how to fix steam deck wont turn on

If you have the LCD model of the Steam Deck, plug in the power cable, wait for a bit, and then keep the power button pressed. But, if you have the OLED model of the Steam Deck, you need to plug the Steam Deck in and keep the power button pressed for about 7 seconds.

In a few moments, after giving the Steam Deck some power, it should switch on as normal. The Steam Deck goes into a deep battery-saver mode if it hasn’t been charged for a long time.

Force Hard Reboot Your Steam Deck

One of the best ways to solve any type of software glitches is by performing a hard reboot. A hard reboot will help to clear away any glitches. If you have the LCD model of the Steam Deck, you need to plug it in and keep the power button pressed for about 10 seconds. But, if you have the OLED model of the Steam Deck, then you will have to keep the power button pressed for 16 seconds.

A force/extended reboot of the Steam Deck should usually do the trick by getting a push manually to switch itself on.

how to fix steam deck wont turn on

Check Your Charging Cables and Power Adaptors

Like any electronic device out there that needs to be recharged, ensure that the cable and power adaptor that you are using with your Steam Deck needs to be free from any issues or damages. A broken or damaged charging cable can lead to poor charging conditions for your Steam Deck and, at times, may simply result in the Steam Deck not charging up at all. When the Steam Deck is charging properly, you will see a white LED light next to the charging port. This indicates that the Steam Deck is charging properly.

Switch to a Different 45W Charger.

If you have noticed that while you charge your Steam Deck the charging indicator i.e., the white LED light is either flicking or is not lit up, then you might have to change your power plug/adapter. You will have to make use of a 45W adaptor from a reputed brand to chase your Steam Deck. Using under-powered adaptors or chargers that do not meet eh Steam Deck’s charging requirements will simply result in poor or no charging at all.

Boot the Steam Deck into the BIOS Menu

One other way to forcefully get your Steam Deck up and running into SteamOS is by starting it from the BIOS Menu. Here are the steps that you need to follow to enter the BIOS Menu.

how to fix steam deck wont turn on
  1. Keep the volume up and the power button pressed until you hear a small audible alert.
  2. After the audible alert plays, release the buttons.
  3. The BIOS Menu should now appear on your screen.
  4. Under the EFI Boot Devices, you should see the SteamOS Boot option. Highlight and choose Continue.
  5. This should help to bypass or skip over any issues that might be present when booting into SteamOS.

Check If the Power Button Is Stuck

Dirt and grime on almost any electronic device can build up with time if it hasn’t been cleaned. The same can be said with the Steam Deck. For best practices, always keep your Steam Deck neat and clean. If you feel that the power button has gotten stuck, take a clean cloth and try to wipe away any dirt that you can see. You can also use a small pin or sim ejector tool to remove any dirt build-up around the button. Once you have cleaned away the dirt, try powering up the Steam Deck, it should work just fine.

Disconnect It From the Docking Station

A few users have also pointed out that the Steam Deck would suddenly not turn on, but it would have the power light on. In this case, you will have to disconnect it from the Dock and keep the power button pressed for exactly 15 seconds. Release the power button for 5 seconds and then keep the button pressed for another 15 seconds. The Steam Deck should power itself automatically.

Reinsert the Steam Deck’s Battery

Sometimes a software update may have changed something about how your battery is being read and detected. While this should rarely be an issue, it is best to disassemble the Steam Deck, disconnect the battery, and then reconnect it. iFixit has a detailed video on how you can remove the battery from your LCD and OLED model of the Steam Deck. You can use their videos as a guide on how to remove the battery.

Enable Battery Storage in BIOS Menu

If the Steam Deck that you use only turns on when you have it plugged in, there can be two issues. One, it could be that the battery is very weak and needs some time to get charged to power the device by itself. The second reason could sometimes be when you swap out the SSD for a higher-capacity SSD. In this case, this is what you need to do.

  1. Press the Volume Up and Power keys to enter the BIOS Menu.
  2. Using the D-Pad, select the Setup Utility option.
  3. Navigate and select the Power Menu.
  4. Here you have to select Battery Storage Mode and enable it.
  5. Disconnect the Steam Deck from the power source, unplug it, and plug it back again.
  6. You should now be able to boot the Steam Deck without having to keep the device plugged in.
  7. Do be sure to keep the Steam Deck charged for about 10 minutes if the battery has been drained completely.

Let The Battery Drain At The BIOS Menu

If you’re not able to switch the Steam Deck on, but you are able to boot it into the BIOS Menu, simply let the Steam Deck drain its battery while you are on the BIOS screen. Once the battery is completely drained, plug it into a power source and switch it on. The Steam Deck should power up normally.

Format or Reimage Your Steam Deck

If nothing has helped you with getting the Steam Deck to switch itself on even after you can boot into BIOS, feel the haptics, hear the fans spinning, or even hear the beep/chimes of the Steam Deck, your last and only option is to perform a factory reset. Here are the steps that you can follow.

To create a bootable recovery of SteamOS, you will need your Windows or Linux PC, a USB drive, and Rufus or Balena Etcher.

  1. On the PC of your choice, download the USB recovery tool, i.e., Rufus or Balena Etcher.
  2. Visit the Steam Deck recovery page to download the recovery ISO file.
  3. Now plug in your USB (should be minimum of 8 GB) and create a bootable drive using Rufus or Balena Etcher.
  4. Now, plug the recovery drive into the Steam Deck. You will need a USB-Type- C adaptor to connect your USB drive.
  5. Now, press the Volume Up and Power button simultaneously.
  6. When the Boot Menu screen is displayed, select the USB device.
  7. The Steam Deck will begin to boot from the SUB drive.
  8. In a few moments, the Steam Desktop screen should be displayed.
  9. Double-tap on the Reimage Steam Deck icon. This will now begin to format and reinstall. SteamOS on your Steam Deck.

Send it to Steam for Repairs

If none of the methods have worked for you at all, your best bet is to contact Valve and get details on how you can get your Steam Deck repaired or replaced. This is the only solution if nothing else works for you.

Important Points

  1. Keep your Steam Deck up to date.
  2. Use a 45W charging brick to charge up your Steam Deck.
  3. Keep your Steam Deck charged at 50% if you don’t plan to use it for a long period.
  4. Charge your Steam Deck once in a while if you will not be using it for an extended time.
  5. Ensure that the charging port on the Steam Deck is free from any dirt or dust. 
  6. Create a backup of your save files so that if you ever have to re-image the Steam Deck, you will have all of your save files when you restore it

Closing Thoughts

This concludes everything you need to know about how you can get your Steam Deck to turn on by following all the troubleshooting methods that we have listed above. If in case nothing works, the Valve Customer Support service is your last place to get the Steam Deck fixed.

If you have other methods that have helped with turning on the Steam Deck, feel free to leave them below.

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Joshua D'souza

Enjoy games, 90's hip-hop, and tech. Loves exploring the infinite world of laptops and food. Every ready to provide assistance in anything that rocks his boat. Will gladly enjoy capturing memories through various lenses. Worked previously at PiunikaWeb as an author and researcher.

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